Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship red plate holder Romain Febvre experienced a frustrating day in the heavy sand of Arnhem in The Netherlands but retains a thirty-one point lead in the series headed into the final three GPs.
The top-three from Qualifying lined up alongside each other on the inside gates for the first moto and each found good traction out of the gate to emerge at the head of the pack leaving turn one. An untidy moment halfway round the lap saw Febvre surrender one position temporarily but he regained that on lap eight and was soon closing down the rider in second. With a spectacular pass under the eyes of the pit crew he took over second with two laps remaining but was then pushed back to third on the final lap. Another excellent start saw the Frenchman a comfortable third once more at the start of race two but a crash on lap two as he pushed a berm saw him fall, remounting in tenth. With the peak of his helmet broken off in the crash he was continually filled in with the roost from other riders’ rear wheels and, despite a spectacular pass for eighth through the rhythm section, he could not advance further despite getting alongside the rider in seventh momentarily on the last lap. He narrowly missed the podium fo
Romain Febvre: “I was happy when I got another good start in the second moto and I was third again, like I had been in the first moto, coming out of the first turn. I was looking for new lines and a quick pass this time but I came a little too fast with the front wheel into a turn on the second lap and crashed. I lost my rhythm after that and it is not so easy to pass in the sand anymore; in the past you could be top-three/top-five just on technique and fitness but so many riders can now ride sand well and everybody from third was riding at the same pace in the second moto. For sure it was not my best moto ever but that’s how it is.”
A fall on the first lap of race one proved costly for Pauls Jonass after he had posted a seventh-placed start. The incident dropped him to twenty-first but he responded admirably with a powerful ride, putting in move after move, his final pass coming three laps from the finish for an eleventh-placed finish. The Latvian had another quietly impressive ride in race two. An eighth-placed start was an excellent base and, maintaining a good pace for the full race-distance, he only ceded positions to the two title rivals to finish tenth in the moto and ninth overall.
Pauls Jonass: “It was tough today; the track was even more challenging and technical than yesterday but it was difficult to get a rhythm. I had good reactions at the gate and two decent starts. I felt I had the pace to run with the guys up front and I didn’t get tired but I just couldn’t get the flow to do it for the entire moto. Generally the speed is there but I still need to step up the full race pace again. I enjoy the overseas races coming up so I’m looking forward to some good results for the rest of the season.”
